1988 Ford Fiesta S 1.4 petrol from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Cheap, fun car which gives a pretty smooth ride

Faults:

Nothing as yet, but it will need some work for the MOT.

General Comments:

A great little car; which was a nice step up from the very old mark one Fiesta 1.1L I had previously, which meant that at first this car was a luxury with not being noisy, pretty comfortable and not rattling at high speeds (70mph+). Also nice to have a decent stereo that still works, because I do kinda like my music!

The car is very much standard as I'm not hugely into cars, but this was nice to have, handling is OK, and speed and acceleration compared to my old Mk. 1 1.1L is very nice indeed; and makes for much nicer motorway driving.

I got the car at around 50,000 miles as it was garaged for many years, and for the price, which was free (yes free!) it has proved to be excellent and relatively good to run cost wise. All round good performer!

1988 Ford Fiesta XR2 1.6 CHV from UK and Ireland

Summary:

A great fast little car

Faults:

My brakes became worn very quickly. The car wouldn't move until it had warmed up fully in the mornings. The headlights chip very easily when the car is driven on the motorway. The tyres wear very quickly and aren't very effective in wet conditions. Every time I drove through any large puddles the car would stop accelerating.

General Comments:

The car is very quick and reliable, but I wouldn't recommend driving it fast when the road is wet, this car doesn't like water at all! I have done 125 MPH and drive it everyday on the motorway and had no breakdowns or problems yet.

29th Apr 2003, 04:17

29th May 2004, 10:35

I'm only 19 and am unable to get insurance for any classical 'hot hatch' with my parent's insurance company, but I've been insured for my Mondeo 2.5, which can do 140MPH+. Which insurance companies will insure young drivers for this type of car?

18th Jul 2004, 05:16

An XR2 will only do 110 mph. It is a fun car, holds the road well and is a perfectly decent car, but it is not a fast car. 125 mph is just not possible unless your speedo is not correct or the car has been modified.

19th Jul 2004, 05:40

Another case of the wildly over-reading speedo. Generally, speedos are only accurate until around 85 - 90 MPH, and thereafter over-read more and more the faster you go. Good for talking crap over a bottle of Buckfast, but you really should think twice before writing these figures in an on-line review site where people who actually know about cars are likely to see it. And as for the 1.3 Fiesta doing 115 MPH with a K+N filter, go and read a book about tuning engines sonny, and you'll see that you'd need a lot more than a filter change to do that kind of speed in that car.

22nd May 2005, 17:09

I have a fiesta xr2 and it does 135+ mph, but it has 2 twin 40mm dellorto carburettors, a Kent cam, custom 4 branch manifold and performance leads and plugs, and my clock has been calibrated not so long ago.

Maybe a standard xr2 will do 115mph, but I ain't found a big enough hill yet to do it ha ha ha.